Casein hydrolyzate, process for producing the same and use thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a casein hydrolysate containing free amino acids and in vivo indigestible peptides having minimally suppressed in vivo enzymatic digestibility, and expected to express functions, such as hypotensive effect, in living organism, and to a method for preparing such a hydrolysate, and use thereof. The casein hydrolysate of the present invention contains free amino acids and peptides, such as in vivo indigestible peptides including Xaa-Pro and Xaa-Pro-Pro, obtained by hydrolyzing animal milk casein to have an average chain length of not longer than 2.1 in terms of the number of amino acid residues, and has ACE inhibitory activity or hypotensive effect.

FIELD OF ART

The present invention relates to casein hydrolysate which is obtained byhydrolysis of animal milk casein, is expected to exhibit variousfunctions including angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory activityand hypotensive effect, and is useful for various food and medicine, aswell as to a method for preparing such casein hydrolysate, and usethereof.

BACKGROUND ART

A variety of peptides have been reported having various functions, suchas hypotensive effect, anti-bacterial activity, calcium solubilizingeffect, and immunomodulating effect, and these peptides are in use infood and medicine.

For example, hypotensive peptides have been proposed, many of which haveangiotensin converting enzyme (abbreviated as ACE hereinbelow)inhibitory activity. ACE converts a precursor, angiotensin I, toangiotensin II having vasoconstrictive activity in living organism, tothereby raise the blood pressure. Thus peptides having ACE inhibitoryactivity are expected to exhibit hypotensive effect by inhibiting ACE tosuppress production of angiotensin II in living organism. In thedevelopment of hypotensive peptides, researches are usually directedfirst to peptides having ACE inhibitory activity, so that hypotensiveeffect of the proposed peptides are mainly indicated by ACE inhibitoryeffect as reference index. A great number of agents having hypotensiveeffect evaluated by the ACE inhibitory activity as reference index, havebeen proposed to date, and are in use for prevention and treatment ofhypertension.

In production of functional peptides, such as peptides havinghypotensive effect evaluated by the ACE inhibitory effect, inparticular, in production of functional peptides by digestion of foodprotein with enzymes, complicated steps are usually required after theenzymatic digestion, such as concentration, purification, and isolationof the digested products, for improving expression of the functionaleffects.

As peptides that are absorbed through the alimentary canal into blood toexpress their functions in living organism, in vivo indigestiblepeptides are expected to be advantageous that have high absorbabilityand digestion resistance against various digestive enzymes in livingorganism. However, it is not known in detail which peptides contributeto enhancement of the in vivo digestion resistance. Thus development ofenzymatic digestion products for food or medicine and methods forproducing such products are desired, which products have high in vivodigestion resistance, and can effectively express their desiredfunctions without undergoing complicated processes such asconcentration, purification, or isolation after the enzymatic digestion.

For example, Patent Publication 1 discloses a method for producing a lowmolecular weight peptide mixture mainly composed of dipeptides andtripeptides, having an average chain length of not longer than 3, andhaving excellent intestinal absorbability. The peptide mixture isprepared from soybean protein by simultaneous or sequential action oftwo or more enzymes having endoprotease activity but substantially noexoprotease activity, with not higher than 5% free amino acids beinggenerated. Patent Publication 2 discloses functional food utilizingsoybean protein digestion products and method for producing the same.The digestion products contain as active ingredients a dipeptide andtripeptides consisting of Ala-Tyr, Gly-Tyr-Tyr, Ala-Asp-Phe, andSer-Asp-Phe, prepared by digesting heat denatured soybean protein withenzymes such as proteases derived from Aspergillus oryzae. The digestionproducts preferably have an average peptide chain length of 2 to 4, andcontain 20 to 30 wt % free amino acids.

However, these enzymatic digestion products of soybean protein havecomponents that are quite different from those of enzymatic digestionproducts of animal milk casein. Thus the above patent publicationssuggest nothing about methods for preparing, from animal milk casein asa staring material, casein digestion products and casein hydrolysatethat have a high concentration of active ingredients and excellentabsorbability in living organism, and may be used without necessarilyundergoing complicated processes such as concentration, purification,and isolation.

On the other hand, Patent Publications 3 and 4 propose methods forpreparing peptides having various functions by digesting animal milkcasein with enzymes such as proteases and peptidases, and particularfunctional peptides obtained by the methods.

The enzymatic digestion products disclosed in these publications are,however, for obtaining particular peptides as active ingredients. Thusthere is no teaching in these publications as to hydrolysis of animalmilk casein to have an average chain length of not longer than 2.1,specific process of the hydrolysis, and effectiveness of the caseinhydrolysate having the particular average chain length.

Patent Publication 1: JP-5-252979-A

Patent Publication 2: JP-2003-210138-A

Patent Publication 3: JP-6-128287-A

Patent Publication 4: JP-2001-136995-A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a casein hydrolysatecontaining in vivo indigestible peptides and free amino acids havingminimized in vivo enzymatic digestibility, and expected to expressfunctions, such as hypotensive effect, in living organism.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method forpreparing the casein hydrolysate mentioned above, which allows easy andefficient production of the above casein hydrolysate without necessarilyinvolving complicated processes.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an agenthaving ACE inhibitory activity or hypotensive effect that contains invivo indigestible peptides and free amino acids, is expected to haveexcellent hypotensive effect in living organism, and is useful forvarious functional food or medicine.

The present inventors have made intensive researches for achieving theabove objects, to find out that, by hydrolyzing animal milk casein tohave an average chain length of not longer than 2.1 in terms of thenumber of amino acid residues, a casein hydrolysate containing freeamino acids and low molecular weight peptides, such as tripeptides anddipeptides, may be obtained, wherein free amino acids and in vivoindigestible peptide molecules having a residue Pro at the carboxylterminal are efficiently formed.

The present inventors have also found out that the in vivo indigestiblepeptides having a residue Pro at the carboxyl terminal are expected tohave high digestion resistance against in vivo peptidases, so that it isquite possible for such indigestible peptides to fully exhibit theirfunctions in living organism, and that the casein hydrolysate has a highcontent of peptides having good in vivo absorbability, such asdipeptides and tripeptides, so that the casein hydrolysate is capable offully exhibiting various functions, such as hypotensive effect, inliving organism, to thereby completing the present invention.

Further, the present inventors have made researches for enzymes thatefficiently produce the case in hydrolysate of the present inventionfrom various known enzymes to find out that a particular class ofenzymes is particularly capable of efficiently producing the caseinhydrolysate of the present invention.

According to the present invention, there is provided a caseinhydrolysate comprising free amino acids and peptides obtained byhydrolyzing animal milk casein to have an average chain length of notlonger than 2.1 in terms of the number of amino acid residues. Morespecifically, the present invention provides the casein hydrolysatementioned above wherein the peptides comprises in vivo indigestiblepeptides consisting of dipeptides having a sequence Xaa-Pro andtripeptides having a sequence Xaa-Pro-Pro, and wherein a content of thedipeptides having a sequence Xaa-Pro is not lower than 5 wt % of a totalamount of the peptides and the free amino acids in the hydrolysate, anda content of the tripeptides having a sequence Xaa-Pro-Pro is not lowerthan 1 wt % of a total amount of the peptides and the free amino acidsin the hydrolysate. As used herein, Xaa may be any amino acid.

According to the present invention, there is also provided a method forpreparing the casein hydrolysate mentioned above comprising the step of(A) hydrolyzing animal milk casein to have an average chain length ofnot longer than 2.1 with a group of enzymes capable of digesting animalmilk casein into a casein hydrolysate having an average chain length ofnot longer than 2.1 in terms of the number of amino acid residues.

According to the present invention, there is also provided an agenthaving ACE inhibitory activity or hypotensive effect comprising theabove casein hydrolysate as an active ingredient.

According to the present invention, there is further provided use of theabove casein hydrolysate in the manufacture of functional food ormedicine having ACE inhibitory activity or hypotensive effect.

The casein hydrolysate of the present invention contains free aminoacids and low molecular weight peptides such as in vivo indigestiblepeptides, obtained by hydrolyzing animal milk casein to have an averagechain length of not longer than 2.1 in terms of the number of amino acidresidues. Thus the present casein hydrolysate is expected to exhibit, byoral administration, excellent in vivo absorbability and variousfunctions in living organism, and to be useful for various functionalfood, medicine, and food additives. For example, the present caseinhydrolysate is expected to be used in an agent having ACE inhibitoryactivity or hypotensive effect containing the present hydrolysate as anactive ingredient.

The present method includes the step (A) of hydrolyzing animal milkcasein to have an average chain length of not longer than 2.1 with agroup of enzymes capable of digesting animal milk casein into a caseinhydrolysate having an average chain length of not longer than 2.1 interms of the number of amino acid residues. Thus, the method allows easyand efficient production of the casein hydrolysate of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the present method is advantageous in industrialproduction of the casein hydrolysate of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the results of evaluation of in vivoabsorbability and digestion resistance of Xaa-Pro and Xaa-Pro-Properformed in Example 1.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the results of experiment for determiningdose-dependent hypotensive effect of the casein hydrolysate powdersprepared in Example 1.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the elution patternof bound protein with a linear gradient of 0 to 0.6 M NaCl and theproteolytic activity in Analysis Example 1.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the digestion time ofcasein with the group of enzymes and the ACE inhibitory activity of theresulting casein hydrolysate in Example 3.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the average chainlength and the ACE inhibitory activity of the casein hydrolysateobtained by hydrolysis of casein with the group of enzymes in Example 3.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be explained in detail.

The casein hydrolysate of the present invention contains free aminoacids and peptides obtained by hydrolyzing animal milk casein to have aparticular range of average chain length in terms of the number of aminoacid residues. The amount of the free amino acids and the peptides ispreferably not less than 80 wt %, more preferably 80 to 90 wt % of thetotal amount of the casein hydrolysate. It is particularly preferredthat the hydrolysate has a particular content of in vivo indigestiblepeptides as the peptides, composed of dipeptides having the sequenceXaa-Pro and tripeptides having the sequence Xaa-Pro-Pro. The peptidesmay be peptide salts.

As used herein, the average chain length may be expressed as a ratio ofthe total number of moles of the peptides and the free amino acidsgenerated by hydrolysis of animal milk casein with respect to the numberof moles of all the amino acids in the casein acid hydrolysate of thesame weight. Here, the casein acid hydrolysate is obtained by digestingcasein protein into single amino acids.

The average chain length may be determined, for example, by evaluatingthe molar concentrations of the amino groups in the hydrolysates by theOPA method using an OPA (o-phthalaldehyde) reagent, which colors byreaction with amino groups, and expressed as:Average chain length=(number of moles of amino groups in casein acidhydrolysate)/(number of moles of amino groups in casein enzymehydrolysate).

As used herein, the in vivo indigestible peptides mean dipeptidesXaa-Pro and tripeptides Xaa-Pro-Pro having Pro at the carboxyl terminal,which have high digestion resistance against in vivo peptidases whenabsorbed intestinally in living organism.

According to the present invention, the average chain length of thehydrolysate obtained by hydrolyzing animal milk casein is not longerthan 2.1, preferably 1.1 to 2.1, more preferably 1.3 to 2.1, in terms ofthe number of amino acid residues. With the average chain length oflonger than 2.1, the contents of the desired dipeptides and tripeptidesas well as the free amino acids are low, and thus the content of thedesired in vivo absorbable and in vivo indigestible peptides is low.

The content of the dipeptides having the sequence Xaa-Pro in the caseinhydrolysate of the present invention is usually not lower than 5 wt %,preferably 5 to 25 wt % of the total amount of the peptides and the freeamino acids in the hydrolysate. At less than 5 wt %, desired in vivoabsorbability is lowered and the expression of the functions isinsufficient.

The content of the tripeptides having the sequence Xaa-Pro-Pro in thecasein hydrolysate of the present invention is usually not lower than 1wt %, preferably 1 to 5 wt % of the total amount of the peptides and thefree amino acids in the hydrolysate. At less than 1 wt %, desired invivo absorbability is lowered and the expression of the functions isinsufficient.

In the casein hydrolysate of the present invention, Xaa in thedipeptides having the sequence Xaa-Pro and in the tripeptides having thesequence Xaa-Pro-Pro, may be any amino acid.

The casein hydrolysate of the present invention may preferably containIle-Pro, Glu-Pro, Arg-Pro, Gln-Pro, Met-Pro, and Tyr-Pro as thedipeptides having the sequence Xaa-Pro, and Ser-Pro-Pro, Ile-Pro-Pro,and Val-Pro-Pro as the tripeptides having the sequence Xaa-Pro-Pro.

The casein hydrolysate of the present invention, when contains suchdipeptides and tripeptides, effectively exhibits in particular ACEinhibitory activity and hypotensive effect.

The casein hydrolysate of the present invention contains free aminoacids in addition to the peptides. The content of the free amino acidsis usually 35 to 50 wt %, preferably 40 to 45 wt % of the total amountof the peptides and the free amino acids in the hydrolysate.

The casein hydrolysate of the present invention may optionally contain,in addition to the peptides and the free amino acids, for example,lipid, ash, carbohydrate, dietary fibers, and water, which are usuallycontained in commercially available animal milk casein, in an amount ofabout 10 to 20 wt %. Some or all of these ingredients may be removed asdesired.

The casein hydrolysate of the present invention may be prepared, forexample, by the method of the present invention including the step of(A) hydrolyzing animal milk casein to have an average chain length ofnot longer than 2.1 with a group of enzymes capable of digesting animalmilk casein into a hydrolysate having an average chain length of notlonger than 2.1 in terms of the number of amino acid residues.

The animal milk casein is a protein having a high Pro content andconfirmed safety for use in food and the like, and may be, for example,casein from cow's milk, horse's milk, goat's milk, and sheep's milk,with cow's milk casein being particularly preferred.

The casein concentration in hydrolyzing animal milk casein is notparticularly limited, and may preferably be 3 to 19 wt % for efficientproduction of the hydrolysate of the present invention.

The group of enzymes used in the method of the present invention may beany group of enzymes wherein enzymes capable of digesting animal milkcasein into a hydrolysate having an average chain length of not longerthan 2.1 in terms of the number of amino acid residues are suitablyselected and combined. For example, a group of enzymes (X) containingpeptidases capable of cleaving the peptide bond Pro-Xaa in the carboxylterminal of Xaa-Pro-Xaa or Xaa-Pro-Pro-Xaa, may preferably be used.

The group of enzymes (X) may preferably contain serine proteinaseshaving serine at the active center, or metalloproteinases having a metalat the active center. The metalloproteinases may be neutral protease I,neutral protease II, or leucine amino peptidase. With at least one ofthese metalloproteinases, the objective hydrolysate may be obtainedefficiently in a short time, and even in a one-step reaction, thus beingpreferred. The peptidases capable of cleaving the peptide bond Pro-Xaamay preferably be enzymes having isoelectric points in the acid region.

The group of enzymes or the group of enzymes (X) may be, for example, agroup of extracellular enzymes derived from koji mold such asAspergillus oryzae. Such a group of extracellular enzymes may be thoseobtained by culturing cell body in an appropriate medium, andwater-extracting the enzymes produced extracellularly. A group ofextracellular enzymes derived from Aspergillus oryzae having isoelectricpoints in the acid region are particularly preferred.

The group of extracellular enzymes derived from Aspergillus oryzae maybe a commercial product, such as SUMIZYME FP, LP, or MP (all registeredtrademarks, manufactured by SHIN NIHON CHEMICAL CO., LTD.), UMAMIZYME(registered trademark, manufactured by AMANO ENZYME, INC.), SternzymeB11024 and PROHIDROXY AMPL (both trade names, manufactured by HIGUCHIINC.), ORIENTASE ONS (registered trademark, manufactured by HANKYUBIOINDUSTRY CO.), and DENAZYME AP (registered trademark, manufactured byNAGASE SEIKAGAKU), with SUMIZYME FP (registered trademark, manufacturedby SHIN NIHON CHEMICAL CO., LTD.) being particularly preferred.

Such commercially available enzymes usually have specific optimumconditions. The conditions, such as the amount of enzymes used and thereaction time, may suitably be adjusted depending on the group ofenzymes used so that the casein hydrolysate of the present invention maybe obtained.

For the hydrolysis, the group of enzymes may be, for example, added toan aqueous solution of animal milk casein at a group of enzymes/animalmilk casein ratio of not lower than 1/1000, preferably 1/10 to 1/1000,more preferably 1/10 to 1/100, most preferably 1/10 to 1/40, by weight.

The reaction conditions may suitably be selected depending on the groupof enzymes used so that the objective casein hydrolysate is obtained.The reaction may usually be effected at 25 to 60° C., preferably 45 to55° C., at pH 3 to 10, preferably 5 to 9, more preferably 5 to 8. Theenzyme reaction time is usually 2 to 48 hours, preferably 7 to 15 hours.

The enzyme reaction may be terminated by inactivating the enzymes.Usually, the enzymes are inactivated at 60 to 110° C. to terminate thereaction.

After the termination of the enzyme reaction, the resulting precipitatemay preferably be removed by centrifugation or through various filters,as desired.

Further, the obtained hydrolysate may be subjected to removal ofpeptides having bitter taste or odor, which may be effected usingactivated carbon, a hydrophobic resin, or the like. For example, 1 to 20wt % of activated carbon with respect to the amount of casein used maybe added to the hydrolysate, and reacted for 1 to 10 hours to removesuch bitter and odorous components. The activated carbon used may beremoved by a conventional method, such as centrifugation or membranefiltration.

The reaction liquid containing the casein hydrolysate obtained by step(A) may be added as it is to liquid products such as beverages. Forimproving the versatility of the casein hydrolysate of the presentinvention, the reaction liquid may preferably be concentrated and driedinto powders.

Such powders may be used as various functional food, additives therefor,medicine, and an active ingredient thereof. The powders may optionallybe mixed with various auxiliary additives for improving the nutritionalbalance or flavor. Examples of such auxiliary additives may includevarious carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, minerals, sweeteners, flavoringagents, pigments, and texture improvers.

The powders containing the casein hydrolysate of the present inventionmay be used by adding to, for example, beverages, yogurt, liquid food,jelly, candies, retort food, tablet candies, cookies, sponge cakes,bread, biscuits, chocolate, and the like, or by formulating intocapsules, tablets, and the like.

Since the casein hydrolysate of the present invention may be used in theabove mentioned manner, the present hydrolysate may effectively be usedin the manufacture of functional food such as various isotonic drinks,general beverages, general foods, dietary supplements, nutritionalfunctional food, having health benefit incorporated therein, or in themanufacture of medicine.

The casein hydrolysate of the present invention has been confirmed tohave ACE inhibitory activity and hypotensive effect in the Examples tobe discussed later, so that the present hydrolysate may be used, forexample, as an agent for the manufacture of functional food having suchactivity and effect, or as an agent for the manufacture of medicine.

When the casein hydrolysate of the present invention is used as an agenthaving ACE inhibitory activity and hypotensive effect, a preferred doseof the agent for oral administration to human is usually such as toallow ingestion of 0.1 to 100 mg/kg, preferably 1 to 20 mg/kg of thepeptides and the free amino acids in the casein hydrolysate peradministration. Thus the amount of the casein hydrolysate of the presentinvention or the agent having ACE inhibitory activity and hypotensiveeffect, when used by adding in various beverages, food, or medicine, maysuitably be selected in view of the above dose.

According to the method of the present invention, by hydrolyzing animalmilk casein in a one-step reaction with a group of enzymes containingthe group of enzymes (X) mentioned above, Xaa-Pro-Pro contained in theanimal milk casein, in particular Ile-Pro-Pro and/or Val-Pro-Pro, ofwhich various functions including hypotensive effect and anti-stresseffect have been confirmed, may be obtained at a higher yield closer tothe theoretical recovery, such as not lower than 60%, preferably notlower than 70%, compared to the conventional methods. Thus this methodis not only a method for preparing a casein hydrolysate of the presentinvention, but also an effective method for producing digested productscontaining a considerable amount of objective Xaa-Pro-Pro, or purifiedproducts thereof, from animal milk casein of food protein having a highXaa-Pro-Pro content.

EXAMPLES

The present invention will now be explained in more detail withreference to Examples, Analysis Example, and Comparative Examples, whichare illustrative only and do not intend to limit the present invention.

Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 to 8

1 g of casein derived from cow's milk (manufactured by NIPPON NZMP) wasadded to 99 g of distilled water at about 80° C. and thoroughly mixed. A1N sodium hydroxide (manufactured by WAKO PURE CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES,LTD.) solution was added to the mixture to adjust the pH to 7.0. Thetemperature was adjusted to 20° C., to prepare a substrate solution.

To the substrate solution thus obtained, each of the various enzymesshown in Table 1 was added so that the enzyme/casein ratio was 1/25 byweight. The mixture was reacted at 50° C. for 14 hours, and thensubjected to autoclaving at 110° C. for 10 minutes to inactivate theenzymes, to thereby obtain a solution of enzymatic digestion products ofcasein. The obtained solution of enzymatic digestion products wasspray-dried, to prepare powders.

The powders thus obtained were subjected to analysis of ingredients.Protein was determined by Kjeldahl method, and amino acids with an aminoacid analyzer. The amount obtained by subtracting the amount of aminoacids from the amount of protein was taken as the amount of peptides.Further, the amount of lipids was determined by the method with acidhydrolysis, ash by direct ignition, and water by the air oven method.The amount of each ingredient was subtracted from 100%, of which balancewas taken as the amount of carbohydrate. As a result, the powders weredetermined to contain 35.8 wt % aminoacids, 45.7 wt % peptides, 6.6 wt %water, 0.2 wt % lipid, 4.1 wt % ash, and 7.6 wt % carbohydrate.

<Measurement of Average Chain Length>

The average chain length of the amino acids and the peptides containedin the obtained powders was determined by measuring the number of molesusing an OPA reagent, which reacts with amino groups of the free aminoacids and the peptides in the powders, similarly measuring the number ofmoles of a casein acid hydrolysate, and evaluating the ratio of thesetwo. The results are shown in Table 1.

40 mg of o-phthalaldehyde (guaranteed reagent for fluorescence analysis,manufactured by NACALAI TESQUE, INC.) was dissolved in 1 ml of methanol,and 100 μl of β-mercaptoethanol was added. The o-phthalaldehyde solutionwas diluted to 25 ml with 25 ml of a 100 mM sodium tetraborate solutionpreviously mixed with 2.5 ml of 20% dodecyl sodium sulfate, and furtherto 50 ml with distilled water, to prepare an OPA reagent.

Each powder sample of 1% casein enzyme hydrolysate obtained by reactionwith each enzyme (Table 1) was dissolved in an appropriate solvent at anappropriate concentration, and centrifuged at 15000 rpm for 10 minutes.50 μl of the supernatant was taken out. Then 1 ml of the OPA reagentprepared above was added, thoroughly stirred, and left at a roomtemperature for 5 minutes. The absorbance at 340 nm was measured usingan absorptiometer (trade name Ubest-35, manufactured by JASCOCORPORATION).

A 1% casein acid hydrolysate was prepared, properly diluted, andsubjected to the same measurement to obtain a calibration curve, fromwhich the relationship between absorbance and molar concentration wasdetermined. The average chain length was calculated in accordance withthe following formula:Average chain length=(molar concentration of 1% casein acidhydrolysate)/(molar concentration of each sample 1% casein enzymehydrolysate) TABLE 1 Commercial Average chain Origin of enzyme enzymelength Example 1 Aspergillus oryzae SUMIZYME FP ¹⁾ 1.4 Comp. Ex. 1 Pigspleen Trypsin ²⁾ 6.0 Comp. Ex. 2 Bacillus subtilis SUMIZYME CP ³⁾ 4.1Comp. Ex. 3 Bacillus PROTEASE S ⁴⁾ 4.5 stearothermophilus Comp. Ex. 4Carica papaya Purified papain ⁵⁾ 7.9 Comp. Ex. 5 Bacillus Thermoase ⁶⁾4.6 thermoproteolyticus Comp. Ex. 6 Rizopus niveus NEURASE F3G ⁷⁾ 4.9Comp. Ex. 7 Rizopus delemar SUMIZYME RP ⁸⁾ 4.0 Comp. Ex. 8 Pineapplecannery BROMELAIN ⁹⁾ 5.5^(1), 3), 8), 9)) manufactured by SHIN NIHON CHEMICAL CO., LTD.;²⁾ manufactured by HIGUCHI, INC.;⁴⁾ manufactured by AMANO ENZYME, INC.;⁵⁾ manufactured by NAGASE & CO., LTD.;⁶⁾ manufactured by DAIWA KASEI K. K.;⁷⁾ manufactured by NOVOZYME JAPAN<Measurement of Amino Acids Constituting Peptides>

The powders prepared in Example 1 were dissolved in a suitable amount ofdistilled water, and analyzed using an automatic peptide analyzer (tradename PPSQ-10, manufactured by SHIMADZU CORPORATION) to determine theamino acid residues from the N-terminal in the powders. The results areshown in Table 2. Incidentally, the automatic peptide analyzer does notdetect free amino acids.

The total amount of the fifth amino acid residues was 120 pmol, and thetotal amount of the sixth amino acid residues was 100 pmol. From theseresults, it was found that most of the peptides contained in the powderswere dipeptides and tripeptides. It was also found that the percentageof peptides having Pro at the second residue was 49.5%, which wasremarkably high, and the percentage of peptides having Pro at the thirdresidue was 29.8%, which was also high.

Thus it is expected that the powders contain a considerable amount ofXaa-Pro and Xaa-Pro-Pro, which are highly resistant against theenzymatic digestion with in vivo proteases, so that these peptides areoptimal for use as functional peptides. TABLE 2 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Aminoresidue residue residue residue Content in casein acid (pmol) (pmol)(pmol) (pmol) (wt %) Asp 82 304 115 63 6.6 Glu 139 127 89 121 20.5 Asn55 49 46 91 included in Asp Gln 80 97 104 80 included in Glu Ser 105 3627 16 5.23 Thr 31 16 25 18 4.2 His 28 94 58 0 2.6 Gly 256 38 33 16 1.9Ala 323 101 58 30 2.8 Tyr 725 114 52 28 5.4 Arg 13 7 6 8 3.6 Met 182 4336 10 2.5 Val 869 127 196 64 6.1 Pro 42 1371 431 186 10.1 Trp 94 46 26 61.3 Phe 800 88 60 28 4.6 Lys 81 33 57 19 7.5 Ile 350 37 17 10 5.1 Leu400 39 50 10 9.4 Total 4317 2767 1447 387 100.0<Evaluation of Absorbability and Digestion Resistance of Xaa-Pro andXaa-Pro-Pro in Living Organism>

In order to evaluate the absorbability and digestion resistance inliving organism of the peptides having the sequence Xaa-Pro orXaa-Pro-Pro contained in the powders of the casein enzyme hydrolysateprepared in Example 1 and shown in Table 1, the absorption of thepeptides into blood after oral administration was tested in rats asfollows.

To two six-week-old SD (Sprague Dawley) rats, 500 mg/animal each ofVal-Pro-Pro as an example of Xaa-Pro-Pro and Gly-Gly as a dipeptidehaving no Pro were administered orally. Blood samples were taken fromthe portal vein at intervals, and the absorption of each peptide intoblood was determined. The results are shown in FIG. 1.

From FIG. 1, it was confirmed that Gly-Gly was easily digested in vivo,so that Gly was detected, while Val-Pro-Pro was absorbed into bloodrelatively stably. From these results, it is expected that thedipeptides and tripeptides having the sequences Xaa-Pro and Xaa-Pro-Pro,respectively, exhibit high absorbability and digestion resistance inliving organism.

<Evaluation of Hypotensive Effect>

Each of the casein hydrolysate powders prepared in Example andComparative Examples shown in Table 1 were administered orally to five27-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) (male) at a dose of 32mg/kg body weight. Blood pressure was measured before the administrationand 5 hours after the administration by tail-cuff method with Tail-cuffPB-98 (manufacture by SOFTRON) to evaluate the change in blood pressure.As a control, casein was administered instead of the powders, and thesame evaluation was made. Before the measurement of blood pressure, ratswere warmed in a preheat box (manufactured by CSI JAPAN) at 45° C. for 8minutes. The results are shown in Table 3.

From Table 3, it is found that no change in blood pressure was observedwith casein as a control, while the hypotensive effect was observed withthe administration of the powders of Example 1. On the other hand, nochange in blood pressure was observed with any of the powders of theComparative Examples. It is thus demonstrated that the caseinhydrolysate of Example 1 containing a particular amount of Xaa-Pro andXaa-Pro-Pro and having an average chain length of not longer than 2.1had excellent hypotensive effect.

Further, in accordance with the above method, a dose-dependenthypotensive effect was tested using the casein hydrolysate powdersprepared in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 4 and FIG. 2.

<Evaluation of ACE Inhibitory Activity>

ACE derived from bovine lung (manufactured by WAKO PURE CHEMICALINDUSTRIES, LTD.) was dissolved in a 0.1M borate buffer at pH 8.3 in anamount of 0.1 U, to obtain an ACE solution. 80 μl of a diluted enzymehydrolysate solution prepared by diluting powders of each enzymehydrolysate shown in Table 1 by 50-fold with distilled water, 200 μl ofa 5 mM hippuryl-histidyl-leucine solution (manufactured by SIGMA), and20 μl of the ACE solution prepared above were introduced into a tube,and reacted at 37° C. for 30 minutes. Subsequently, the reaction wasterminated by adding 250 μl of 1N hydrochloric acid. 1.7 ml of ethylacetate was then added, and stirred. 1.4 ml of the ethyl acetate layerwas taken, placed in another tube, and evaporated at 120° C. for about60 minutes to obtain a dried product. The dried product was dissolved in1 ml of distilled water, and the absorbance at 228 nm of hippuric acidextracted with ethyl acetate was measured. As controls, absorbance wasmeasured of a solution without the diluted enzyme hydrolysate solutionand a solution without the diluted enzyme hydrolysate solution and theACE solution. From the obtained absorbance, ACE inhibitory activity wascalculated in accordance with the following formula. The results areshown in Table 3.ACE inhibitory activity (%)=[(A−B)/A]×100A: (Absorbance of solution without diluted enzyme hydrolysate solutionbut with ACE solution)−(Absorbance of solution without diluted enzymehydrolysate solution and ACE solution)

B: (Absorbance of solution with diluted enzyme hydrolysate solution andACE solution)−(Absorbance of solution with diluted enzyme hydrolysatesolution but without ACE solution) TABLE 3 ACE inhibitory Enzymeactivity Blood pressure drop hydrolysate (%/μg) (average ± SD) Example 14.1  −25.0 ± 4.3 *** Comp. Ex. 1 0.8 −4.3 ± 5.3 Comp. Ex. 2 1.2 — Comp.Ex. 3 1.4 −3.7 ± 6.4 Comp. Ex. 4 1.0  2.8 ± 5.2 Comp. Ex. 5 1.1 — Comp.Ex. 6 0.9  2.9 ± 5.4 Comp. Ex. 7 0.7 −5.1 ± 7.0 Comp. Ex. 8 1.1 −4.6 ±6.9 Control — −2.5 ± 7.5

TABLE 4 Dose of Change in powders blood pressure Standard (mg/kg) (mmHg)Deviation 96 −31 4.3 32 −25 1.9 9.6 −14.4 3.2 0 0 6.9<Determination of Peptides in Enzyme Hydrolysate>

The powders of the enzyme hydrolysate of Example 1 shown in Table 1 weredissolved in distilled water at a concentration of 10 mg/ml. On theother hand, 25 μg/ml, 50 μg/ml and 100 μg/ml solutions of eachchemically synthesized standard peptide having the sequence shown inTable 5 were prepared. These solutions were analyzed by LC/MS under theconditions below. Among the peaks indicated in the analysis of thepowder solution, peaks corresponding to the molecular weights and theretention times identical with those of standard peptides wereidentified as representing the same sequences as the standard peptides.The peaks of the powder solution were compared to those of the standardpeptides, to determine the content of each peptide shown in Table 4 inthe powder solution. The results are shown in Table 5.

It was found that the amount of the peptides and the free amino acids inthe solution prepared by dissolving the powders with distilled water was8.15 mg/ml, the amount of peptides was 4.57 mg/ml, and the amount ofXaa-Pro in the peptides was 514.5 μg, so that the percentage of Xaa-Prowith respect to the total amount of the peptides and the free aminoacids in the powders was 6.3 wt %. Further, the amount of Xaa-Pro-Pro inthe peptides was 116.5 μg, so that the percentage of Xaa-Pro-Pro withrespect to the total amount of the peptides and the free amino acids inthe powders was 1.4 wt %.

<Apparatus Used>

High performance liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer: LCMS-2010;System controller: SCL-10Advp; Automatic injector: SIL-10Advp; Solventdelivery pump: LC-10Advp×2; Column oven: CT0-10Avp; Photodiode arraydetector: SPD-M10AVP, Online degasser: DGU-14A (all trade names,manufactured by SHIMADZU CORPORATION); Column: Develosil C30-UG-3 (2.0mmI.D.×150 mmL) (manufactured by NOMURA CHEMICAL CO., LTD.)

<Conditions for Measurement>

Mobile phase A: aqueous solution of 0.1 wt % formic acid;

Mobile phase B: 100% acetonitrile solution; Time program: 0% B (0minute)-7.5% B (30 minutes)-80% B (30.01 minutes)-100% B (35 minutes)-0%B (35.1 minutes)-STOP (45 minutes); Amount of sample for injection: 5μl; Column temperature: 50° C.; Detection wavelength: 200 to 300 nm;Ionization mode: ESI(+); Atomized gas flow rate: 4.5 L/min; Appliedvoltage: +4.5 kV; CDL temperature: 250° C.; Block heater temperature:200° C.; CDL voltage: 0.0 V; Q-array voltage: SCAN; Analysis mode: SIMmeasurement; Analyzed range: EP (m/z=245.2), IP (m/z=229.3), MP(m/z=247.3), QP (m/z=244.2), RP (m/z=272.3), SPP (m/z=300.3), VPP(m/z=312.1), IPP (m/z=326.1); Intake time: 0.5 sec/Ch. TABLE 5Concentration in 10 mg/ml powders Peptide sequence (μg/ml) Ile-Pro 16.0Glu-Pro 7.1 Arg-Pro 10.3 Gln-Pro 34.5 Met-Pro 18.4 Tyr-Pro 128.9 OtherXaa-Pro 299.4 Ser-Pro-Pro 2.9 Val-Pro-Pro 29.5 Ile-Pro-Pro 28.1Phe-Pro-Pro 27.2 Other Xaa-Pro-Pro 28.8

Analysis Example 1 Identification of Enzymes

Among the extracellular enzymes derived from Aspergillus oryzae used inExample 1, enzymes necessary for obtaining the casein hydrolysate of thepresent invention were analyzed in the following method. Incidentally,all the following operations were performed at 4° C. unless otherwisespecified. The reagents used were all guaranteed reagents manufacturedby WAKO PURE CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES, LTD. unless otherwise specified.

Impact of Various Inhibitory Agents on Enzymes

2000 mg of SUMIZYME FP (registered trademark, manufactured by SHIN NIHONCHEMICAL CO., LTD.) was dissolved in 10 ml of a 50 mM phosphate bufferat pH 7.2, and the insoluble was removed through a cellulose acetatemembrane (DISMIC-25cs, pore diameter 0.45 μm, manufactured by ADVANTEC),to obtain a crude enzyme solution.

This crude enzyme solution was reacted with 1% casein in the same way asin Example 1. When a metalloprotease inhibitor, EDTA(ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), or a serine protease inhibitor, PMSF(phenyl methane sulfonyl fluoride) was added to the reaction system, theaverage chain length was longer, and the objective hydrolysate could notbe obtained. This suggests that the metalloprotease or serine proteaseplays an important role in the production of the casein hydrolysate ofthe present invention.

(Isolation with Ion Exchange Resin)

20 ml of an anion exchange resin, DEAE sephacel (manufactured byAMERSHAM BIOSCIENCES K.K.) was activated, equilibrated with a 50 mMphosphate buffer at pH 7.2, and packed in a glass column of 1.5 cmdiameter×12 cm. While all the effluent was collected as non-adsorbedsample, the crude enzyme solution was subjected to adsorption at a flowrate of 1.0 ml/min. Then the column was thoroughly washed with a 50 mMphosphate buffer at pH 7.2 in an amount 10 times the volume of the gel,and eluted with 200 ml of a 50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.2 containinga linear gradient of NaCl (0 to 600 mM). The eluate was fractionatedinto 100 fractions of 5 ml each. The absorbance at 280 nm, theproteinase activity, and the ACE inhibitory activity were measured foreach fraction.

(Measurement of Proteinase Activity)

25 mg of a fluorescent material, (fluorescein isothiocyanate)-labeledcasein (FITC-casein, manufactured by SIGMA) was dissolved in 5 ml of a50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.2 to prepare a substrate solution. 10 μlof each fraction was mixed with 20 μl of the substrate solution, andreacted at 55° C. for 10 minutes. The reaction was terminated by adding120 μl of a 5% trichloroacetate solution, and the resulting reactionliquid was centrifuged at 1500 rpm. 60 μl of the supernatant was taken,mixed with 3 ml of a 0.5 M trishydrochloride at pH 8.5, and subjected tomeasurement using a fluorometer (F-1300, manufactured by HITACHI, LTD.)to determine the excitation wavelength at 485 nm, and the fluorescencewavelength at 525 nm.

From the results of the measurement of absorbance at 280 nm of each DEAEsephacel eluate fraction, it was confirmed that about 73% of the proteinwas adsorbed on the anion ion exchange resin. FIG. 3 shows the elutionpattern of the bound protein with a linear gradient of 0 to 0.6 M NaCland the proteolytic activity.

Fractions 21 to 60 contained a particularly large amount of proteinseluted therein. Further, the eluted enzyme solution of each fraction wasevaluated for the activity to generate ACE inhibitory components inhydrolyzing casein. As a result, fractions 20 to 60 were mainlyconfirmed to have the activity to generate ACE inhibitory components.

On the other hand, the proteinase activity measured with the FITC-caseinas the substrate was observed mainly in fractions 19 to 27 (at 0.1 M to0.2 M NaCl), which indicates that the proteinase activity has animportant function in generation of ACE inhibitory components. Fromthese results, it was found that the proteinase activity plays animportant role in the enzymatic activity for purifying the ACEinhibitory components from casein.

(Identification of Proteinases Contained)

From the DEAE sephacel eluted fractions, fractions 21 to 35 having theproteinase activity were collected, and dialyzed against 5 liters of a 5mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.2. Sephacryl S-300 HR (manufactured byAMERSHAM BIOSCIENCES K.K.) was suspended in a 50 mM phosphate buffer atpH 7.2 containing 200 mM NaCl, fully degassed, and packed in a glasscolumn of 18 cm in diameter×100 cm. This column was fully equilibratedwith a 50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.2 containing 200 mM NaCl at aconstant flow rate of 2 ml/min. The dialyzed sample was applied to thiscolumn, and 100 fractions of 10 ml each were recovered. The absorbanceat 280 nm and the proteinase activity using FITC-casein as a substratewere measured for each fraction.

(Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis)

10 μl of each fraction was taken, mixed with 10 μl of a sample buffercomposed of a 0.125 M Tris buffer at pH 6.8, 3% SDS, 5%β-mercaptoethanol, 10% glycerol, and 0.01% bromophenol blue, heated at95° C. for 5 minutes, and cooled at a room temperature. The resultingsample was subjected to electrophoresis according to the Laemmli method(Nature, 227, 680 (1970)), using a mini-slab (manufactured by ATTOCORPORATION) and a polyacrylamide gel at a designated concentrationunder the conditions of 30 mA per gel. After the completion of theelectrophoresis, the gel was soaked in a Coomassie Brilliant Blue stainsolution composed of 0.25% Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250, 50% methanol,and 7.5% acetic acid for 10 minutes, and infiltrated in a decolorantcomposed of 5% methanol and 7.5% acetic acid until the background wascompletely decolored. The molecular weight was figured by calculationfrom the mobility of each protein band, using molecular weight markers(manufactured by AMERSHAM BIOSCIENCES K.K.).

The fractions adsorbed on the anion exchange resin having the activityto generate ACE inhibitory components, were subjected to gel filtrationthrough Sephacryl S-300 resin, and the activity was observed infractions corresponding to the molecular weight of about 45 kDa. Thesefractions were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in a12.5% gel to observe a substantially single band at 44 kDa and 40 kDa.These bands were cut out, and subjected to analysis of the N-terminalsequences. It was revealed that the band at 44 kDa had a sequence thatwas highly homologous to a known neutral protease I of koji mold(Aspergillus), and the band at 40 kDa had a sequence that was highlyhomologous to a known neutral protease II of koji mold (Aspergillus).

From these results, it was determined that the proteinases adsorbed onthe anion exchange resin that generated ACE inhibitory components forcasein, contained at least two proteinases, neutral protease I andneutral protease II.

For further hydrolyzing the components generated by hydrolysis of caseinwith proteinases, peptidases, which act on peptides, were analyzed inthe following method.

In order to identify the enzymes for producing peptides having highercontents of Xaa-Pro and Xaa-Pro-Pro, which are the characteristicfeature of the present invention, various precursor peptides forVal-Pro-Pro were synthesized, and their processability into Val-Pro-Prowas evaluated.

(Purification of Enzymes for Processing Amino Terminals)

From the DEAE sephacel eluted fractions, fractions 21 to 37 having theactivity to generate ACE inhibitory components were collected, anddialyzed against 5 liters of a 5 mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.2.Hydroxyapatite (manufactured by WAKO PURE CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES, LTD.) wassuspended in a 5 mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.2, fully degassed, andpacked in a plastic column of 1.5 cm in diameter×12 cm. This column waswashed with a 5 mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.2 in an amount not less than10 times the amount of the hydroxyapatite. The dialyzed fractions havingthe activity to generate ACE inhibitory components were applied to thishydroxyapatite column, and all the fractions passed through the columnwere collected.

(Measurement of Aminopeptidase Activity)

Aminopeptidase activity was measured by the following method.Synthesized peptide Val-Val-Val-Pro-Pro was dissolved in a 50 mMphosphate buffer at pH 7.2 at a concentration of 50 μg/ml to prepare asubstrate solution. 45 μl of this substrate solution was mixed with 5 μlof the enzyme fraction, and reacted in an incubator at 55° C. for 30minutes. The reaction was terminated by heating at 98° C. for 5 minutes.An appropriate amount of this reaction liquid was taken, and subjectedto analysis in a high performance liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer(manufactured by SHIMADZU CORPORATION) to evaluate the amount ofVal-Pro-Pro generated.

The fractions adsorbed on the anion exchange resin having the activityto generate ACE inhibitory components were subjected toSDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in a 10% gel, and the band at 32kDa was cut out. The major protein was extracted, and purified into asubstantially single protein of 32 kDa. The sequence in the N-terminalof the protein was analyzed to reveal that the sequence up to the tenthresidue from the N-terminal was homologous to the sequence of knownleucine aminopeptidase of koji mold (Aspergillus). It was concluded thatthe fractions having the confirmed activity to generate ACE inhibitorycomponents contained leucine aminopeptidase.

From these results, it is understood that the fractions adsorbed on theanion exchange resin having the activity to generate ACE inhibitorycomponents contained at least leucine aminopeptidase havingaminopeptidase activity, which played an important role in the activityto generate ACE inhibitory components.

(Measurement of Carboxyl Terminal Processability of Enzymes)

Synthesized peptide Val-Pro-Pro-Phe-Leu was dissolved in a 50 mMphosphate buffer at pH 7.2 at a concentration of 45 μg/ml to prepare asubstrate solution. 50 μl of this substrate solution was mixed with 5 μlof each enzyme solution, and reacted in an incubator at 55° C. for 30minutes. The reaction was terminated by heating at 98° C. for 5 minutes.An appropriate amount of this reaction liquid was taken, and subjectedto analysis in a high performance liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer(manufactured by SHIMADZU CORPORATION) to evaluate the concentration ofVal-Pro-Pro generated.

The carboxyl terminal processability of each DEAE sephacel elutedfraction was evaluated to find that fractions 30 to 50 had enzymaticactivity to convert Val-Pro-Pro-Phe-Leu to Val-Pro-Pro.

Example 2 Confirmation of ACE Inhibitory Activity of Casein Hydrolysateby Purified Enzyme Combination

From Analysis Example 1, it was confirmed that the activity to generateACE inhibitory components of the fractions adsorbed on the anionexchange resin of the extracellular enzyme derived from Aspergillusoryzae (SUMIZYME FP (registered trademark, manufactured by SHIN NIHONCHEMICAL CO., LTD.)) included four enzymatic activities, i.e., theproteinase activities including those of at least neutral proteases Iand II, the aminopeptidase activity including that of leucineaminopeptidase, and the activity to cleave the carboxyl terminal atimmediately after proline.

From the adsorbed fractions (see FIG. 3), Fraction I having highproteinase activity (fractions 1 to 35 in FIG. 3), Fraction II havinghigh activity to cleave the carboxyl terminal at immediately afterproline (fractions 36 to 55 in FIG. 3), Fraction III thereafter(fractions 56 to 100 in FIG. 3), and non-adsorbed fractions havingproteinase activity were provided.

Each Fraction was added, alone or in combination as shown in Table 6, to1 ml of a 1% solution of casein derived from cow's milk, reacted at 55°C. for 13 hours to prepare a casein hydrolysate. After the completion ofthe reaction, each of the obtained casein hydrolysates was measured forthe ACE inhibitory activity and the average chain length in accordancewith the method described in Example 1. As a control, the crude enzymesolution in 1/10000 the amount subjected to the purification wassubjected to the same measurements. The results are shown in Table 6.TABLE 6 Average chain ACE inhibition length of digested Fractions Used(%) products Crude enzyme fractions 79 1.8 Non-adsorbed fractions 45 3.7Fraction I 46 2.3 Fraction II 27  2.75 Fraction III 0 — Non-adsorbedfractions + 70 2.1 Fraction II Fractions I + II 56 1.8 Non-adsorbedfractions + 77 1.7 Fractions I + II Non-adsorbed fractions + 78 1.6Fractions I + II + III Non-adsorbed fractions + 52 — Fraction IIIFractions I + III 40 — Fractions II + III 12 — Non-adsorbed fractions +68 — Fractions II + III Fractions I + II + III 43 —

From Table 6, it was found that components having strong ACE inhibitoryactivity were contained in the non-adsorbed fractions, the fractionshaving high proteinase activity, and up to the fractions having theactivity to cleave the carboxyl terminal at immediately after proline.It was also found that the group of enzymes eluted at about 300 mM NaClgenerated the ACE inhibitory components, so that Fraction III wasunnecessary.

The average chain length of the casein hydrolysate obtained byhydrolysis with each fraction exhibiting the strong activity to generateACE inhibitory components, was measured and compared. It was found thatthe average chain lengths for the non-adsorbed fractions, Fraction I,and Fraction II were over 2.1, but by combining these fractions, acasein hydrolysate having the average chain length of not longer than2.1 was obtained.

Example 3

15 g of casein derived from cow's milk (manufactured by NIPPON NZMP) wasadded to 85 g of distilled water at about 80° C. and thoroughly mixed.1N sodium hydroxide solution was added to the mixture to adjust the pHto 7.0. The temperature was adjusted to 20° C. to prepare a substratesolution.

To the substrate solution thus obtained, SUMIZYME FP (registeredtrademark, manufactured by SHIN NIHON CHEMICAL CO., LTD.), which isextracellular enzymes derived from Aspergillus oryzae, was added as thegroup of enzymes so that the enzyme/casein ratio was 1/25 by weight. Themixture was reacted at 50° C. for 20 hours, while the reaction liquidwas sampled at intervals to evaluate the ACE inhibitory activity and theaverage chain length against time in the same way as in Example 1. Theresults are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The enzyme-digested solution takenafter 12 hours of reaction, which exhibited the maximum ACE inhibitoryactivity, was spray-dried to obtain powders of peptide mixture.

From FIGS. 4 and 5, it was confirmed that the ACE inhibitory activityincreased with the increase in reaction time, and decreased after 12hours of reaction. It was also confirmed from the evaluation of thepeptide amount that the ACE inhibitory activity increased at the averagechain length of about 1.3 to 2.1.

1. A casein hydrolysate comprising free amino acids and peptidesobtained by hydrolyzing animal milk casein to have an average chainlength of not longer than 2.1 in terms of the number of amino acidresidues.
 2. The casein hydrolysate of claim 1, wherein said peptidescomprises in vivo indigestible peptides consisting of dipeptides havinga sequence Xaa-Pro and tripeptides having a sequence Xaa-Pro-Pro, andwherein a content of said dipeptides having a sequence Xaa-Pro is notlower than 5 wt % of a total amount of the free amino acids and thepeptides in the hydrolysate, and a content of said tripeptides having asequence Xaa-Pro-Pro is not lower than 1 wt % of a total amount of thefree amino acids and the peptides in the hydrolysate.
 3. The caseinhydrolysate of claim 1 for food additive or medicine.
 4. The caseinhydrolysate of claim 2, wherein said dipeptides having a sequenceXaa-Pro comprises Ile-Pro, Glu-Pro, Arg-Pro, Gln-Pro, Met-Pro, andTyr-Pro, and said tripeptides having a sequence Xaa-Pro-Pro comprisesSer-Pro-Pro, Ile-Pro-Pro, and Val-Pro-Pro.
 5. A method for preparing acasein hydrolysate of claim 1, comprising the step of (A) hydrolyzinganimal milk casein to have an average chain length of not longer than2.1 with a group of enzymes capable of digesting animal milk casein intoa casein hydrolysate having an average chain length of not longer than2.1 in terms of the number of amino acid residues.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein said group of enzymes are extracellular enzymes derivedfrom Aspergillus oryzae.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein saidhydrolyzing is performed in a one-step reaction with said group ofenzymes.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein said group of enzymes isgroup of enzymes (X) comprising peptidases capable of cleaving a peptidebond Pro-Xaa.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said group of enzymes(X) further comprises at least one of metalloproteases and serineproteases.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein said group of enzymes (X)further comprises at least one of neutral protease I, neutral proteaseII, and leucine amino peptidases.
 11. The method of claim 8, whereinsaid group of enzymes (X) are extracellular enzymes derived fromAspergillus oryzae.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein said peptidasescapable of cleaving a peptide bond Pro-Xaa are a group of enzymes havingisoelectric points in an acid region.
 13. The method of claim 5, whereinin said step (A), a casein concentration in hydrolyzing said animal milkcasein is 3 to 19 wt %, and a ratio of said group of enzymes to animalmilk casein is not lower than 1/100 by mass.
 14. An agent havingangiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory activity or hypotensive effectcomprising a casein hydrolysate of claim 1 as an active ingredient.